As Aisha Huang faces the processes in our courts, the lingering story of impunity in razing forests, and desecrating water bodies and arable lands to scoop gold from the belly of the earth will certainly not go away today or tomorrow until we collectively decide our way forward.
Intriguingly, the resurgence of the conversation on decisively fighting galamsey and the obstacles in the way of that lawful fight is what is now confronting us as a nation. This is coming after the government had launched a small scale mining initiative, and ferried equipment to identified communities to aid their lawful operations.
Deflated hopes
Unfortunately, when we all thought that the fight had been won, then we were hit by reports that, after all, deep inside the forests are delinquents still dribbling the system.
The situation became worse when it turned out that, indeed, beyond the mining initiative and expectations that mining goons had been flushed out of hidden pits and streams are stark allegations of complicity by state actors and elements of traditional authority.
Amidst the political turbulence were also reports about local boys adding to the allegations about official complicity. Certainly, that seems to deflate all hopes about any decisive and proactive programme to kill the scourge, and further re-engineer the sector to provide the ecology required in sustaining development in other strategic sectors.
The stark reality is that, from the Western and Eastern regions into the Ashanti region, pockets of illegality still exist in the mining sector, which conspire against a determined effort to combat the scourge for the collective benefit.
Fingering
As the Daily Statesman has been pointing out recently, we have appointees and local government agencies that are politically in charge of regions and districts.
Additionally, we also have allodia owners of the lands who unfortunately lack logistics and personnel to do any effective monitoring, except to report to political authorities.
Fortunately for the traditional rulers, however, they have the support of opinion leaders in their communities and youth associations who may be vociferous, if they chose to.
It is therefore normal that the public is often worried about the roles of these groups in collaborating to sustain the fight against illegal mining.
Signals
With the dastardly report about threats to water production and supply as well as food security and probable ban on our cocoa, we do not need a strong man from Mars to signal to us that we are losing out on our rebound hopes.
That we have made modest strides in agriculture, and hope to do better in 2022 is a fact; that the cocoa sector is modestly performing is also a fact.
These are in addition to the tree planting effort to strengthen the ecology for enhanced productive activity to drive industrialisation in improving lives and livelihoods.
Deterrence
With recent reports suggesting ‘enemies within’, what any serious and relevant institution of state must do is to simply stamp its authority, backed by the laws of the state.
Because we also appoint people to perform certain responsibilities and functions, it is important that we begin, as civil society actors, to take them on to account for their stewardship.
In adding a bite to the fight, the Daily Statesman also believes it is time to put representatives of traditional bodies on the Regional and District Security Councils. This may help in discouraging local boys from playing ‘Goro’ in the embarrassing development that is dividing the nation.
Collective fight
Between the two leading political parties, none has venerated galamsey as healthy and lawful. Among our teeming members of the Legislature, neither side has openly supported the act of insanity being perpetrated on our collective heritage. What has, however, pervaded is a blame-game that no party can win.
It is therefore the opinion of the Daily Statesman that a bipartisan body be put in place, in collaboration with Parliament, to design very biting sanctions as deterrence in restoring the value of this strategic sector of our economy. We must see the galamsey fight as a collective one, if we are really determined to win it.
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